Winter / Spring 2015 edition Border Route Trail Association (BRTA) Newsletter • Deadfall and brushing sweep on the Otter Lake Welcome to the BRTA Cutoff. Winter / Spring 2015 newsletter! • Clearing the Pigeon River campsite and installing a This issue has news and updates on trail conditions, wilderness style latrine. upcoming events, and much more. We also have information on where to buy your own BRT T -shirt, trail Rose Lake Cliffs Loop Trail: guide book and the new 'frame worthy' poster map. • Deadfall sweep and stubble removal on the Moss Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who has donated Lake Trail. their time by volunteering for the BRTA. • Deadfall and brushing sweep on the non -wilderness sections of the Caribou Rock and South Lake Trails. Considering volunteering? There are many ways that you can donate your time West end of the BRT: by helping distribute leaflets, representing the BRT at • Deadfall sweep from the BWCAW boundary east of one of our many outreach events, or by joining a trail Gunflint Lake to the Magnetic Rock Trailhead. clearing crew. For more information visit the BRT web • Brushing sweep from the Gunflint Narrows Rd to site at www.borderroutetrail.org County Road 46. or visit the BRT Meetup Group website at • Deadfall sweep of the Brice -Breon Trail. http://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-the-Border -Route- Trail/. Early July Gunflint Mid-Trail BRT access trails: Trail clearing information • Replace the South Lake Trail boardwalk. An extended winter delayed the start of trail work in • Misc maintenance on the South Lake Trail. 2014 , however, once the crews were moving we made • Finish stubble removal on the Moss Lake Trail. some great progress. Here is a summary of the work performed in 2014 by our volunteers. 2014 Wilderness summary May 15 - South Lake trail sweep 2014 Non-wilderness summary May 22 - Rose Lake cliffs sweep May 13 - Moss Lake and South Lake trail clearing Oct 2 - McFarland/Pike/Pine sweep May 29 - Western End de adfall sweep and scouting trip July 2 - Moss Lake Trail completion 2014 Fall Wilderness Trip Report Sept 11 - Moss Lake sweep Over the weekend of October 2 nd, base camp was Sept 18 - Pigeon River sweep setup on the west end of McFarland Lake and we Oct 9 - Gunflint sweep worked from the McFarland/ East Pike Portage. The trail was cleared from the John Lake over look to a midpoint 29 volunteers contributed 124 days to mechanized trail between the McFarland/E Pike portage and the maintenance in 2014. Pine/Pike portage, about 3.5 miles. This leaves 1.5 miles to the Pine/Pike portage which includes about 17 trees . Brush was cleared to 1 mile west of the McFarland/East 2015 Planned Non-wilderness Maintenance Pike portage, leaving 2.5 miles to be finished before we April 30 - May 3 - Reconnaissance Trip - final dates and reach the Pine/Pike portage. agenda to be determined On Sunday, we cleared from the Arrowhead Road Non-wilderness projects proposed for 2015: entrance go ing west. There was a nasty 'crawl under' Some of our upcoming spring and early summer BRT about a quarter mile in to the trail. It had been partially related non-wilderness projects are as follows : limbed to make it passable . However, w hile scouting the week before, it required an elbows and knees crawl Between the time the snow is gone and M emorial Day to get under. The trail was cleared from the Arrowhead East end of the BRT: Roa d entry to about 4.5 miles west. • Deadfall and brushing sweep from the Swamp River bridge on Otter Lake Road westward to the BWCAW boundary at McFarland Lake. Winter / Spring 2015 edition Border Route Trail Association (BRTA) Newsletter BRTA Volunteer Training Saw Training The BRTA, in conjunction with the USFS, will again offer chainsaw and crosscut saw certification for its volunteers. The certification and training is currently planned for April 18th and 19 th at Bunker Hills Park. The instructors provide classroom instruct ion in the morning and then take it outside for some very informative hands-on instruction and practice. 2014 USFS Instructors - Jamie Lowe, Tom Ya nkiowiak, Dan Peterson, Jon Benson and Stove Cochran. Wilderness First Aid Certification / Training The BRTA is teaming up with Active Source training to offer Red Cross CPR/AED and Basic Wilderness First Aid Certification good for two years. Active Source is a local training provider for the Northern Star Council of Before / after pics of the 'Nasty Fall of the year award'. the Boy Scouts. They have been providing training for scouts and scoutmasters over the last 8 years. Training is 2015 Planned Wilderness Maintenance held multiple times during the spring and fall. All classes The general plan for 2015 is to continue west from the are on a first-come, first -serve basis. Signup and Pine/Pike portage past Gogebic and along Clearwater additional information is available at towards the long portage. Because t he trips are canoe http://activesrc.com/wildernessfirstaid.html. based they require ice out which makes scheduling a little more short range. The initial trip s chedule should be Please note that you are required to have current CPR posted on the BRT website by the end of March and First Aid certifications before you can perform saw work on USFS trails, including the BRT. While Wilderness Look for additional information about upcoming trips First Aid certification is not a USFS requirement the BRTA and projects on the BRT web site at: highly recommends it due to the remote locations www.borderroutetrail.org where we work. and the BRT Meetup Group website at: http://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-the-Border -Route- Mechanized Brushcutter Training Trail/. The Wisconsin DNR has given us permission to maintain their trail at the Maiden Rock Bluff State Natural Area located on the bluffs overlooking Lake Pepin between Winter / Spring 2015 edition Border Route Trail Association (BRTA) Newsletter Maiden Rock and Stockholm, WI. It's a win -win situation the Border Route Trail Association for all you do to as they don't have to send people down from provide this exceptional wilderness hiking experience! " Menomonie to clear the trail and we can do train ing on a trail that is the closest thing to the Border Route that You can see some great pictures and read the entire you'll find without driving to the North Shore. trip summary at: http://ericshikes.blogspot.com/2014/10/border -route- The BRTA held two one day trainings August 30th and trail-thru-hike-2014.html October 18 th . On August 30th Ed instructed 9 volunteers on the finer Do you have a trail report to share? points of brushcutter use and etiquette. If you have a trail report that you'd like to share in the newsletter, we'd love to publish it. We would like to publish at least one trail report in each new sletter. To submit a trail report please e -mail it, along with any pictures, to: [email protected]. Please note that submission of a trail report and picture s authorizes use by the BRTA in the newsletter. Submissions may be edited for content and length. Check out additional trip reports posted on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ borderroutetrail . The BRT is this good... EscapeHere.com recently chose the BRT as # 2 on its list of 10 Best Day Hike's in America. Here's what they had to say about us. Ed Solstad and a recent group of students "The clue’s in the name as the trail hugs the border between Minnesota and Ontario, following the As the dates for training in 2015 are confirmed they will Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). be posted on the BRT web site at: The trail is 65 miles long in all, so unless you’re planning www.borderroutetrail.org on an impromptu ironman triathlon, taking on the whole and the BRT Meetup Group website at: thing in a day is probably out of the question. The http://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-the-Border -Route- Border Route can be acce ssed by connecting trails Trail/. though, making a day hike possible along the rugged ridges and cliffs that it follows, which give way to Hikers Trail reports stunning views over the surrounding wilderness. Be sure September 2014 Thru-Hike (completed by Eric Moll ) to plan ahead and grab the Border Route Trail guide From Sept 18th - 22nd, Eric hiked the BRT from east to and map before y ou head off. " west starting at Pigeon River and ending on the Gunflint Trail. Eric seems to have enjoyed the trail as his final Reprinted from: blog entry is shown below. http://www.escapehere.com/inspiration/the -10-best- day-hikes-in-america/2/ "Overall, the Border Route was a special trail, a worthwhile addition to a Superior Hiking Trail thru-hike. One BRTA member has recommended the following While somewhat overgrown (which I expected), I rarely day hike. lost the trail for more than a brief moment. There was For an invigorating and rewarding 13 mile day hike, start some undergrowth but nothing that slowed progress in on the rugged and exceptionally s cenic Caribou significantly. It was a remote experience and I didn't Rock Trail, stop at the BRT and take a short detour up to see another backpacker the entire time. Thank you to your right for your first fine overlook of Rose Lake. Turn around and head west across the bridge at Stairway Winter / Spring 2015 edition Border Route Trail Association (BRTA) Newsletter Falls, aka Rose Falls past several other fine views of Rose A small victory..